Mambo Diablo My Journey with Tito Puente

by Conzo, Joe

• ISBN13: 9781617130298
• ISBN10: 161713029X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-01
• Publisher: Backbeat

Summary

Countless stories have been written about Tito Puente's percussive musical abilities, but never before have his talent and intuition, as well as the mishaps and controversies surrounding him, been presented with such vivacity and love, chronicling the popular and combative King of Latin rhythm who climbed from El Barrio to international fame and recognition, influencing multiple generations of jazzers and Latin rockers from Dizzy Gillespie to Santana. Tito Puente was more than a flamboyant percussionist; he was a multi-instrumentalist and gifted composer. Despite the importance and popularity of Tito's music, his contributions are too often ignored - witness Ken Burns' television documentary about jazz which he virtually ignores Afro-Cuban jazz - this book reclaims Tito's rightful place in the history of music. Author Joe Conzo was Tito's confidant and chronicler for nearly 40 years - no one was closer to Tito or knew him better. Joe tells the story of Tito's intensity for perfection, and describes Tito's musical brilliance in a manner that is as exciting a rapid-fire explosion on the timbales as it is deeply personal. Mambo Diablo is like no book before it, a must-read for all music fans and for anyone who loves New York. Famed author and journalist Pete Hamill sets the stage for the journey, with a loving preface.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Editor's Notes	p. xix
Mambo with Me	p. 1
La Vida Es Un Sueño	p. 10
Dancing Under Latin Skies	p. 13
Harlem Nocturne	p. 13
Carnaval In Harlem	p. 31
Rumba Timbales	p. 33
Cuban y Puerto Rico Son	p. 36
The Swing Era or Rhumba Craze	p. 45
æs Wonderful	p. 47
Jimmy Cagney and George Raft	p. 59
Japan Mambo	p. 70
Mucho Puente	p. 79
The Late, Late Scene	p. 79
Machito, Kenton and Curbelo	p. 83
Bebop	p. 89
The Call Of Vibraphone	p. 93
Changing New York	p. 98
In Step With Pupi	p. 100
The Schillinger Method	p. 103
On the Way to Broadway	p. 113
The Piccadilly Italians	p. 118
Cuban Connections	p. 123
Tito Puente's Melody	p. 127
Mambo Diablo	p. 131
Flamboyant Singers and Sidemen	p. 131
The Not So Latino Fans	p. 135
Fierce Competition	p. 139
Palladium Nights	p. 147
History's Dancehall	p. 149
Elegance and Grace	p. 153
The Big Three	p. 155
Tito's Cha Cha Cha	p. 158
Teach Me Tonight	p. 163
Tito's Cuban Carnaval	p. 171
Everybody Does Mambo and Cha Cha Cha	p. 172
Tito Moves to RCA Victor	p. 175
New York - Havana Influences	p. 182
All That Jazz	p. 199
It's A Puente!	p. 201
Havana Nights	p. 201
Departures and Changes	p. 207
Be Mine Tonight	p. 211
Dance Mania	p. 227
Times Are Changing	p. 233
El Rey Bravo	p. 241
Roulette and Tico Records	p. 243
Oye Como Va	p. 247
Celia Cruz and Other Friends	p. 255
My Fair Lady and Other Notables	p. 266
The Other Tito	p. 270
The Office	p. 274
A Meeting of Masters	p. 277
Remembering Tito Rodríguez	p. 278
Habana and the Palladium	p. 279
Nervous Adolescence	p. 281
Vincentico Valdés and His Hairpiece	p. 285
Afro-Cuban Music Renovation	p. 287
Tito Puente and Joe Loco	p. 289
Racism	p. 290
The King of the Rhumba-Cugat	p. 293
Salsa!	p. 295
Charangeas and Tipicas!	p. 300
Big Bands	p. 303
The Future	p. 304
Tito the Prankster	p. 304
Monotonus Montuno	p. 305
Ray Barretto - A Nervous Soul	p. 306
Ideals	p. 307
Dancers	p. 307
Percussionists	p. 308
Tito On the Bridge	p. 311
TibiriTabara	p. 313
Royalty, Celebrities and Saints	p. 325
Distractions	p. 333
Pérez Prado - On The Road	p. 339
Generations	p. 342
PuenteÆs Night Beat	p. 349
One Success At A Time	p. 353
The Jazz Scene	p. 364
Another Wave	p. 371
CÆest Magninque	p. 375
Tito and Machito And Dizzy	p. 376
New Sounds From Cuba	p. 377
The Scholarship is Born	p. 381
They Just Fade Away…	p. 388
Un Poco Loco	p. 403
Up On The Strip	p. 404
The Mambo Kings	p. 408
Mixing With The Stars	p. 412
April in Paris	p. 429
110th Street and Fifth Avenue (Epilogue)	p. 433
Photos	p. 215-226
Discography	p. 437
End Notes	p. 447
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